1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for monitoring the position of an article under optical observation. More specifically, the invention relates to such a method and apparatus using laser means.
The invention also relates to such a method and apparatus which, in addition to monitoring the position of the article, also adjusts its position as required.
More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for monitoring the position of a bullet under optical observation for forensic purposes, and for adjusting the bullet as required, the method and apparatus using laser means.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various optoelectronic inspection systems are known in the art as illustrated in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,966, Cofek et al, Aug. 1, 1972, U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,640, Hirst, Aug. 19, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,932, Knollenberg, Jan. 16, 1990 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,697, Takagi et al, Dec. 31, 1991.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,966 teaches an optoelectronic inspection apparatus wherein light from a light source is directed by lens 12 through a source probe 14, and, via a system of mirrors 18 and 45 to a light detector 50. The system detects the area of aperture 32 in a shell casing 30. The light from the source 10 uninterrupted is fed to a light detector 12, and the output of light detectors 51 and 12 are directed through a system including a divider 70 and comparator 72 and 74, and the output is then fed to an indicator 84.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,640 teaches a system for optically testing the quality of reflective cylindrical surfaces. A monochromatic light (laser) beam 14 is directed at a diffraction grating 16 which is perpendicular to the direction of the beam. A wavefront 20 converges into line focus at 24 and then diverges as a cylindrical wavefront 26 to impinge on a test object such as a concave cylindrical surface 30. In FIG. 1, the cylindrical surface is concave. If the surface is convex (FIG. 2), then the surface is disposed ahead of the focal point 24.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,932, differently polarized beams from lasers 16 and 14 (see FIG. 6) are directed to opposite sides of a monitoring area by a system of mirrors and lenses. The reflected light is directed, by a system of lenses, to a beam splitter 64 wherein the different polarized lights are directed to different inputs of a signal processor 76.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,697, slit light projectors 3 direct their output on the surface of a circuit board 10 through galvano-mirrors 4. The image is then picked up by a television camera 1 and is processed in the image processor 7.
As can be seen, none of the references teach a system for monitoring and adjusting the position of an article under optoelectronic observation. Although the '932 patent does use two lasers, it uses them for an entirely different purpose. In addition, the laser beams of the '932 patent are not planar laser beams.